Commercial television-interfacing dongle and system and method for use of same

ABSTRACT

A commercial television-interfacing dongle and system and method for use of the same are disclosed. In one embodiment, a wireless transceiver is located within a housing, which also interconnectively includes a television input, television output, a processor, memory, a control interface, and a universal serial bus (USB) interface. The control interface and the USB interface connect to the commercial television. The commercial television interfacing dongle may establish a pairing with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device having a display and receive and process virtual remote control functionality input instructions from the proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device. Following receipt and processing of the virtual remote control functionality input instructions, the commercial television-interfacing dongle sends a command to the commercial television via a commercial television control protocol.

PRIORITY STATEMENT & CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.14/177,876, entitled “Set Top/Back Box, System and Method for Providinga Remote Control Device” and filed on Feb. 11, 2014, in the names ofVanessa Ogle et al., and issued on Oct. 28, 2014, as U.S. Pat. No.8,875,195; which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/528,663 entitled “Set Top/Back Box, System And Method For Providing ARemote Control Device” and filed on Jun. 20, 2012, in the names ofVanessa Ogle, et al., and issued on Feb. 11, 2014, as U.S. Pat. No.8,650,600; which claims priority from U.S. Patent Application No.61/498,734, entitled “Set Top/Back Box, System and Method for Providinga Remote Control Device” and filed on Jun. 20, 2011, in the names ofVanessa Ogle et al. This application also claims priority from U.S.Application Ser. No. 62/063,778, entitled CommercialTelevision-Interfacing Dongle and System and Method for Use of Same” andfiled on Oct. 14, 2014, in the names of Ogle et al; all of which arehereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates, in general, to dongles and, in particular, tocommercial television-interfacing dongles providing enhanced content andsystems and methods for use of the same that address and supplement thecontent typically received from an external signal source and providedto a commercial television.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Without limiting the scope of the present invention, the background willbe described in relation to commercial televisions in the hospitalitylodging industry, as an example. To many individuals, a television ismore than just a display screen, rather it is a doorway to the world,both real and imaginary, and a way to experience new possibilities anddiscoveries. Consumers are demanding enhanced content in an easy-to-useplatform. As a result of such consumer preferences, the quality ofcontent and ease-of-use are frequent differentiators in determining theexperience of guests staying in hospitality lodging establishments.

To the hospitality lodging industry, however, the costs of upgradingequipment across all rooms in all hotel properties may beconsiderable—especially in a competitive marketplace, like thehospitality lodging industry—having price-sensitive consumers.Accordingly, there is a need for improved systems and methods forproviding enhanced content in an easy-to-use platform in the hospitalitylodging industry. Further, there is a need for affordable systems andmethods for providing the enhanced content.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It would be advantageous to achieve a television-interfacing dongle thatwould improve upon existing limitations in functionality. It would alsobe desirable to enable a computer-based electronics and softwaresolution that would provide enhanced content in an easy-to-use platformin the hospitality lodging industry or in another environment. Further,it would be desirable to enable an affordable solution, especially forthe commercial environment. To better address one or more of theseconcerns, a commercial television-interfacing dongle providing enhancedcontent and system and method for use of the same are disclosed.

In one embodiment of the commercial television-interfacing dongle, awireless transceiver is located within a housing, which alsointerconnectively includes a processor, memory, storage, a controlinterface, and a universal serial bus (USB) interface. The controlinterface and the USB interface connect to the commercial television.The commercial television-interfacing dongle may establish a pairingwith a proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device havinga display and receive and process virtual remote control functionalityinput instructions from the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device. Following receipt and processing of the virtualremote control functionality input instructions, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle sends a command to the commercialtelevision via a commercial television control protocol. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle thereby provides remote controlfunctionality to the commercial television and, in one embodiment,access to a program guide via the commercial television-interfacingdongle. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent fromand elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of thepresent invention, reference is now made to the detailed description ofthe invention along with the accompanying figures in which correspondingnumerals in the different figures refer to corresponding parts and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is schematic diagram depicting one embodiment of a system forproviding a commercial television-interfacing dongle having enhancedcontent thereon according to the teachings presented herein;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of one embodiment of the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle and a commercial television depicted inFIG. 1 in further detail;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram depicting one embodiment of thecommercial television-interfacing dongle presented in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram depicting one embodiment of awireless-enabled interactive programmable device presented in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view depicting components of the systempresented in FIG. 1 in further detail in one operational embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting one embodiment of a method for usertouch panel display command execution; and

FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting one embodiment of a method forproviding a commercial television-interfacing dongle providing enhancedcontent and control according to the teachings presented herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the making and using of various embodiments of the presentinvention are discussed in detail below, it should be appreciated thatthe present invention provides many applicable inventive concepts, whichcan be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specificembodiments discussed herein are merely illustrative of specific ways tomake and use the invention, and do not delimit the scope of the presentinvention.

Referring initially to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, therein is depicted oneembodiment of a system 10 utilizing a commercial television-interfacingdongle 12 with enhanced content-supporting capabilities being employedwithin a hospitality lodging establishment H. The hospitality lodgingestablishment or, more generally, hospitality property, may be afurnished multi-family residence, dormitory, lodging establishment,hotel, hospital, or other multi-unit environment. As shown, by way ofexample and not by way of limitation, the hospitality environment isdepicted as the hotel H having various rooms, including room R andback-of-the-house local operations L. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 may be communicatively disposed withvarious amenities associated with the hospitality environment H,including a commercial television 14 having a screen 16. Commercialtelevision-interfacing dongles, like the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12, may be deployed throughout the rooms Rof the hotel H and are in communication with a property server 18, whichmay be co-located at the hotel H. The property server 18 may include aheadend, which provides a master facility for receiving televisionsignals for processing and distribution throughout the hotel H, and ahospitality suite, which represents a set of services, including checkin/check out, maid service, spa, room service, and front desk, forexample. The hotel H may be disposed in communication with remoteoperations O as well, including a management server 20, by way of anetwork 22, such as the Internet.

As shown, in one embodiment, within the room R, the system 10 includesthe commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 and a displayillustrated as the commercial television 14 having the screen 16. Thecommercial television 14 includes various connections, including an HDMIconnection 24, a MIDI connection 26, two universal serial bus (USB)ports 28, 30, and a commercial television control port 32. Thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12 includes a housing 40 havingtwo connectors extending therefrom. A control interface 42 couples tothe commercial television control port 32 and a USB interface 44 couplesto one of the USB ports 28, 30. As shown, the housing 40 includes ashell casing 46 having a cable 48 extending thereform, which forms aportion of the control interface 42. In one implementation, the controlinterface may be a self-diagnosis interface. Furhter, the self-diagnosisinterface may be selected from RJ25 ports, RS232 ports, RS422 ports,RS485 ports, mulitple portocol interaces (MPIs), and multiple telvisioninterfaces (MTIs), for example. As depicted, the control interface 42includes an RS232 standard DB-25 connection 50 for the serialcommunication transmission of data. Such a connection formally definesthe signals connecting between a DTE (data terminal equipment) such as acomputer terminal, and a DCE (data circuit-terminating equipment,originally defined as data communication equipment. In this instance,the DTE and DCE refer to the commercial television 14 and commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12.

A television remote control 56 includes an array of buttons 58 foradjusting various settings such as television channel and volume. In oneembodiment, the television remote control 56 may be a consumer infrared(IR) or other protocol, such as Bluetooth, device configured as a smallwireless handheld object that issues commands from a distance to thecommercial television 14 in order to control the commercial television14. A wireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60 is presentthat may be supplied or carried by the guest and may be selected from arange of existing devices, such as, for example iPads®, iPhones®, iPodTouch®, Android® devices, Blackberry® devices, tablets, and laptops. Aswill be discussed in further detail below, in one implementation, anapplication installed from a server enables the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 and wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device 60 to be wirelessly paired, when thewireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60 is proximate to thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12. In another embodiment, achallenge-response is utilized to wirelessly pair the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 and the wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device 60.

In one operational embodiment, as shown, a news program P1 on Channel200 is displayed on the screen 16 of the commercial television 14. Thehotel guest may opt not to use the remote control 56. Rather, employingthe teachings presented herein, the hotel guest may utilize the pairedwireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60 as a remote controldevice with an enhanced auxiliary audiovisual experience, such as aprogram guide and virtual remote control, thereon. More particularly, asshown, the commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 is wirelesslycommunicating with the property server 18 via connection W₁ and thewireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60 via connection W₂.The wireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60 is reciprocatingthe paired communication via connection W₃.

Referring solely to FIG. 1, enabled, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 provides a menu 62 to thewireless-enabled programmable device 60. The menu may be stored on thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12 and periodically updatedwirelessly. The menu 62 may include a listing of services, including aprogram guide, room control (e.g., controlling an amenity in the roomremotely), remote functionality, or launching an application to bedisplayed on the commercial television, for example. It should beappreciated that other virtual button menu arrangements are within theteachings presented herein and the configuration and presentation of themenu will depend on the capabilities of the commercial television andguest services offered, for example.

As shown by arrow 64, the guest utilizing the wireless-enabledprogrammable device 60 selects the program guide and remote options onthe menu 62. The wireless-enabled programmable device 60 then displaysan enhanced auxiliary audiovisual experience 66, including a programguide 68 and a virtual remote control 70. The guest then utilizes theenhanced auxiliary audiovisual experience 66 to select a fishing programP2 on channel 202. More particularly, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle receives and processes virtual remotecontrol functionality input instructions from the wireless-enabledprogrammable device 60 and provides a remote control command to thecommercial television 12. In one operational embodiment, upon use of thewireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 provides advertising instructions viathe control interface to the commercial television 14 to superimposeadvertising content 72 onto a portion of the screen 16 while theenhanced auxiliary audiovisual experience is being utilized on thewireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60.

With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, by way of example, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 may be an information appliance devicethat includes a control interface for a commercial television such as aself-diagnosing interface port that facilitates the transfer ofinformation from a non-set-top box, functionality-facing platform. Thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12 controls televisionfunctions and features by the communication of commands and statusinformation. With respect to the non-set-top box, functionality-facingplatform, the commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 generally doesnot contain set-top box functionality, including having atelevision-tuner input and displays output through a connection to adisplay or television set and an external source of signal, turning byway of tuning the source signal into content in a form that can then bedisplayed on the television screen or other display device. Rather, thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12 provides enhancedfunctionality including auxiliary audiovisual experiences and parallelapplication-based audiovisual experiences.

The commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 includes the housing 40and within the housing 40, a processor 80, memory 82, storage 84, inputs86, and outputs are interconnected by a bus architecture 136 within amounting architecture. The processor 80 may process instructions forexecution within the dongle-based computing device, includinginstructions stored in the memory 82 or in the storage 84. The memory 82stores information within the commercial television-interfacing dongle12. In one implementation, the memory 82 is a volatile memory unit orunits. In another implementation, the memory 82 is a non-volatile memoryunit or units. The storage 84 provides capacity that is capable ofproviding mass storage for the commercial television-interfacing dongle12. By way of example, the storage 84 may store the program guide, whichis periodically updated with communications to the property server 18,such that the program guide provides substantially continuously updatedmenus displaying broadcast programming and scheduling information forcurrent and upcoming programming to be received by the commercialtelevision from an external source. Various inputs 86 and outputs 88provide connections to and from the commercial television-interfacingdongle 12, wherein the inputs 86 are the signals or data received by thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12, and the outputs 88 are thesignals or data sent from the commercial television-interfacing dongle12.

With respect to the inputs 86 and the outputs 88, a transceiver 92 isassociated with the commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 andcommunicatively disposed with the bus 90. As shown the transceiver 92may be internal, external, or a combination thereof to the housing 40.Further, the transceiver 92 may be a transmitter/receiver, receiver, oran antenna for example. Communication between various amenities in thehotel room, the wireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60, theproperty server 18, or the management server 20, for example, and thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12 may be enabled by a varietyof wireless methodologies employed by the transceiver 152, including802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC),Bluetooth low energy and Bluetooth, for example. Also, infrared (IR) maybe utilized. Such transmission techniques may employ a short distancedata exchange standard. Additionally, the inputs 86 and the outputs 88include the USB port 94, which is associated with the USB interface 44and the control interface 96 port, which is associated with the controlinterface 42. As previously discussed, in one embodiment, the USBinterface 44 and the USB port 94 provide power to the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 as well as structural support theretosuch that the commercial television-interfacing dongle 12, including thehousing 40, extends, in horizontal suspension (see horizontal suspensionline 74 in FIG. 1), from the commercial television 14. The controlinterface 42 and control interface port 96 mechanically couple to thecommercial television 14 and send various commands to the commercialtelevision 14 using a commercial television control protocol. By way ofexample and not by way of limitation, the following table, Table I,summarizes an exemplary commercial television control protocol.

TABLE I Exemplary Commercial Television Control Protocol Command ActionGet TV Model Model Number Get Firmware Firmware Version Number Get TVCapability Tuner, Source Inputs, Decryption Get Status Current TV StateTV Power On/Off Source Selection HDMI1, HDMI2, Tuner Volume ControlUp/Down Set Volume Level Get Volume Level Channel TV Channel Up/DownTune Channel Channel Number Get Channel Channel Number Navigation Up,Down, Left, Right, Select

The memory 82 and storage 84 are accessible to the processor 80 andinclude processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor 80 to execute a series of operations. The processor-executableinstructions specify a search operation to identify the proximatewireless-enabled interactive programmable device, wherein the searchoperation utilizes the wireless transceiver to wirelessly identify theproximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device and establisha pairing between the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device and the commercial television-interfacing dongle.The processor-executable instructions also send formatted auxiliaryaudiovisual experience instructions to the proximate wireless-enabledprogramable interactive device, wherein the formatted auxiliaryaudiovisual experience instructions are operable to provide a programguide related to the content on the commercial television.

Also, the processor-executable instructions provide instructions forvirtual buttons on a touch screen display associated with the proximatewireless-enabled interactive programmable device, the virtual buttonsbeing associated with the commercial television. Theprocessor-executable instructions receive and process virtual remotecontrol functionality input instructions from the proximatewireless-enabled interactive programmable device following, for example,the pressing of a virtual remote control button. Then, theprocessor-executable instructions send a remote control command to thetelevision via a commercial television control protocol.

Furhter, in one embodiment, the processor-executable instructionsprovide advertising instructions via the control interface to thecommercial television to provide an overlay or superimpose advertisingcontent onto a portion of a screen of the commercial television. Theprocessor-executable instructions may also provide for the configurationof the display on the wireless-enabled interactive programmable device,including alternating between providing the proximate wireless-enabledinteractive device the formatted auxiliary audiovisual experienceinstructions and providing the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device the instructions for virtual buttons. Suchinstructions may include providing the proximate wireless-enabledinteractive programmable device shared screen instructions that placethe formatted auxiliary audiovisual experience and virtual buttons on asplit screen. Furhter, the processor-executable instructions may receiveapplication-based audiovisual experience instructions from the proximatewireless-enabled interactive programmable device and, based on theapplication-based audiovisual experience instructions, provide formattedparallel application-based audiovisual experience instructions via thecontrol interface to the commercial television.

A configuration profile is associated with the memory andprocessor-executable instructions to enable the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 to control the commercial television.As discussed, the configuration profile being a non-set-top box,functionality-facing platform. Furhter, the configuration profile may beassociated with a room in the loading establishment wherein thecommercial television-interacting dongle 12 is located, thereby servingas a source of location or room identification.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the wireless-enabled interactive programmabledevice 60 may be a wireless communication device of the type includingvarious fixed, mobile, and/or portable devices. To expand rather thelimit the previous discussion of the programmable device 60, suchdevices may include, but are not limited to, cellular or mobiletelephones, two-way radios, personal digital assistants, digital musicplayers, Global Position System units, and so forth. The programmabledevice 60 may include a processor 100, memory 102, and storage 104interconnected by a bus 106. Inputs 108 and outputs 110 are coupled tothe bus 106 and may include a display 112, camera 114, transceiver 116,and an I/O panel 118. It should be appreciated that although aparticular architecture is explained, other designs and layouts arewithin the teachings presented herein.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the pairing between the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 and the programmable device 60 having atouch screen display 120 is illustrated in further detail, wherein thealphabetical designations A-F used with programmable device 60 indicateparticular selectable configurations of the programmable device 60,which are labeled programmable device 60-A through 60-F. As shown, thecommercial television 14 receives content 122 from a source and inputfrom the commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 and outputs contentto the television screen 16 either the content 122 or a modified versionof the content 122, which includes an auxiliary audiovisual experienceor parallel audiovisual experience and is designated content 148 as anenhanced experience.

The programmable device 60-A includes content 120 on the touch screendisplay, which may correspond to the enhanced experience 148 on thetelevision screen 16. As will be discussed in further detail below, thedisplay 120 is formatted and/or scaled for the touch screen display 60.As shown, content 124 includes a menu 126 that provides functionalityand may prompt the user to select between particular services andfeatures offered, which may relate to the commercial television,programming, or other amenities in the hotel room. The content 124 alsoincludes an advertisement 128, which may appear on the wireless-enabledinteractive programmable device 60. The programmable device 60-Bincludes content 130 and 132, which includes a program guide and contentguide, respectively. The programmable device 60-C includes a virtualremote control 134 having buttons 136 that if pressed by a user causesthe corresponding functionality to the commercial television 14 tooccur. By way of example, the buttons 136 control volume. By way offurther example, buttons 138 include numbers causing channel input andchange instructions. More specifically, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 receives a virtual remote controlfunctionality instruction from the wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device 50-C, which indicates that on touch screen 120coordinates (X_(PD), Y_(PD)) a touch-and-click operation occurred. Thecommercial television-interfacing dongle 12 translates or de-scales thecoordinates (X_(PD), Y_(PD)) to coordinates (X_(STB), Y_(STB)), whichcommercial television-interfacing dongle 12 compares against aconfiguration profile in order to determine that the actuation of thebuttons 136 or 138 presents a volume change or channel change operation,for example. The commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 then sendsa command signal to the commercial television 14 and the requestedvolume change, channel change, advertisement insert is accomplished.

The programmable device 60-D includes content 130 and content 134 on thetouch screen display 120. The content 130 provides a program guide andthe content 134 provides the virtual remote control. As shown, thecontent 130 is formatted and/or scaled for viewing on only an upperportion of the touch screen display 120 and the content 134 is formattedand/or scaled for viewing on only the lower portion of the touch screendisplay 120. Similar to the actuation previously described with respectto wireless-enabled interactive programmable devices 60-A through 60-C,the commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 receives a virtualremote control functionality instruction from the programmable device60-D, which indicates that on touch screen display 120 coordinates(X_(PD), Y_(PD)) a touch-and-click operation occurred. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 translates or de-scales the coordinates(X_(PD), Y_(PD)) to coordinates (X_(STB), Y_(STB)), which the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12 compares against the configurationprofile in order to determine that the actuation of a particular buttoninitiates the viewing of a television program via the content 130 or achannel change via content 134. The commercial television-interfacingdongle 12 then sends a command signal to commercial television 14 toaccomplish the appropriate command. With respect to content, theprogrammable device 60-E includes an account access menu 140 foraccessing the guest's account at the hospitality establishment and ahotel service selection menu 142, including television access 144 andpay-per-view access, for example, among other services such as roomservice. With respect to the wireless-enabled interactive programmabledevice 60-F, a parallel programmable device experience 150 may occur atthe wireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60. Such anexperience may include an audiovisual experience launched by anaudiovisual application 156, music from music application 158, or otherexperience from application 160. It one implementation, the launchedaudiovisual experience is transmitted to the commercialtelevision-interfacing interactive device 12, which in turn superimposesthe experience onto the commercial television 14.

It should be appreciated that the virtual buttons and applicationlaunches on wireless-enabled interactive programmable devices 60-E and60-F have similar functionality to the programmable devices 60-A through60-D. In one implementation, a user may toggle between the full screentelevision presentation of the programmable device 60-A or 60-C and thesplit screen/multi-screen television/remote presentation of theprogrammable devices 60-B or 60-D, for example, by selectively swipingor clicking a predetermined portion of the touch screen display 60. Oncein the split screen television/remote presentation, the user mayselectively switch between an array of virtual remote controlscorresponding to the configuration profile in the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle 12, which correspond to the commercialtelevision and/or various amenities in the multi-unit environment.

The system and method may provide a menu-driven environment which mayduplicate content on the television, provide related content, furnish anauxiliary experience, furnish a parallel experience, or provide controlsfor the commercial television or environment in the room. For example,with respect to the auxiliary experience, a channel guide may beprovided. By way of another example, providing controls for theenvironment may include enabling a virtual remote control for operationof the commercial television or, in another embodiment, the thermostatand lighting controls from the wireless-enabled interactive programmabledevice by way of the commercial television-interfacing dongle.

Thus, the systems and methods disclosed herein may enable users to useexisting electronic devices as a temporary remote control device tocontrol a television via a commercial television-interfacing dongle.Therefore the systems and methods presented herein avoid the need foradditional or expensive high functionality remote controls or costlyset-top boxes. In this respect, the teachings presented herein alsoinclude providing the software and/or application for the electronicdevice or interactive handheld device. The application, to the extentneeded, may be downloaded from the Internet or alternatively madeavailable by download from the commercial television-interfacing dongle.

FIG. 6 depicts one embodiment of a method for user touch panel displaycommand execution. At block 200, the methodology is in standby. At block202, a user drags his or her finger to particular coordinates on thetouch screen display of the programmable device. At block 204, the eventis transmitted from the programmable device and received by thecommercial television-interfacing dongle, where the coordinates aretranslated from the programmable device coordinates to the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle coordinates. At block 206, the event ispassed back to the programmable device and continued to be monitored. Asshown by the dashed lies from block 208, it should be understood thatduring this process the user may continue to touch the screen.

At decision block 210, the movement type is determined and if a dragrelease occurred, then the focus of the methodology changes to the newcoordinates. On the other hand, if a click movement occurs, then atdecision block 214, the methodology forms a tree depending on whether ornot the click occurred at existing coordinates (block 216) or newcoordinates (block 218). These events are monitored for proper reportingto the commercial television-interfacing dongle 12 from thewireless-enabled interactive programmable device 60 of the location andtype of touch-and-click operation, which may include a drag and/orrelease, occurs.

FIG. 7 depicts one embodiment of a method for providing a remote controldevice, according to the teachings presented herein. At block 230, thewireless-enabled interactive programmable device is configured toprovide an auxiliary audiovisual experience. In one implementation, thismay involve using an existing application on the programmable device,such as a browser, or downloading a new application. At block 232, asearch, which may be active or passive, is performed by the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle to identify a physically proximatewireless-enabled interactive programmable device in the multi-roomenvironment. At block 234, a pairing is established prior to a scalableauxiliary audiovisual experience being provided at block 236 on thetouch screen display of the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device. The audiovisual experience is auxiliary to thecommercial television experience and may include, for example, a menuand program guide having a program listing and schedule. As noted byblock 238, this experience may include providing virtual buttonsintegrated within the audiovisual experience or two or more panelswithin the touch screen display showing the program guide, for example,and one or more virtual remote controls. As previously discussed, thevirtual remote controls and buttons each correspond to the commercialtelevision under the control of the commercial television-interfacingdongle.

At block 240, command coordinates are received from the wireless-enableinteractive programmable device at the commercial television-interfacingdongle and these command coordinates are translated into a commandsignal intended for the commercial television based on the location ofthe touch-and-click operation, which more generally may be understood asa user interaction, and the auxiliary experience being provided by thecommercial television-interfacing dongle to the wireless-enabledprogrammable interactive device. At block 244, the command is sent fromthe commercial television-interfacing dongle to the commercialtelevision and the channel is changed accordingly.

The order of execution or performance of the methods and data flowsillustrated and described herein is not essential, unless otherwisespecified. That is, elements of the methods and data flows may beperformed in any order, unless otherwise specified, and that the methodsmay include more or less elements than those disclosed herein. Forexample, it is contemplated that executing or performing a particularelement before, contemporaneously with, or after another element are allpossible sequences of execution.

While this invention has been described with reference to illustrativeembodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in alimiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of theillustrative embodiments as well as other embodiments of the invention,will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to thedescription. It is, therefore, intended that the appended claimsencompass any such modifications or embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A commercial television-interfacing dongle formechanically connecting to a commercial television, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle comprising: a housing securing aprocessor, memory, and storage therein; a busing architecturecommunicatively interconnecting the processor, the memory, and thestorage; a wireless transceiver associated with the housing and coupledto the busing architecture, the wireless transceiver operable tocommunicate with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmabledevice; a control interface associated with the housing and coupled tothe busing architecture, the control interface configured tomechanically couple to a commercial television control port of thecommercial television; a universal serial bus (USB) interface associatedwith the housing and coupled to the busing architecture, the USBinterface configured to mechanically couple to the commercial televisionand provide power therefrom to the commercial television-interfacingdongle; the memory accessible to the processor, the memory includingprocessor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to, upon connection of the control interface and USB interfaceto the commercial television: specify a search operation to identify theproximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device, wherein thesearch operation utilizes the wireless transceiver to wirelesslyidentify the proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device,establish a pairing between the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device and the commercial television-interfacing dongle,send formatted auxiliary audiovisual experience instructions to theproximate wireless-enabled programmable interactive device, wherein theformatted auxiliary audiovisual experience instructions are operable toprovide a program guide related to the content on the commercialtelevision, provide instructions for virtual buttons on a touch screendisplay associated with the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device, the virtual buttons being associated with thecommercial television, receive and process virtual remote controlfunctionality input instructions from the proximate wireless-enabledinteractive programmable device, and send a remote control command tothe commercial television via a commercial television control protocol;and a configuration profile associated with the memory andprocessor-executable instructions that enables the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle to control the commercial television;wherein the memory includes processor-executable instructions that, whenexecuted cause the processor to alternate between providing theproximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device the formattedauxiliary audiovisual experience instructions, and providing theproximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device theinstructions for virtual buttons.
 2. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, wherein the controlinterface further comprises a self-diagnosis interface.
 3. Thecommercial television-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, whereinthe control interface is selected from the group of self-diagnosisinterfaces consisting of RJ25 ports, RS232 ports, RS422 ports, RS485ports, mulitple portocol interaces (MPIs), and multiple telvisioninterfaces (MTIs).
 4. The commercial television-interfacing dongle asrecited in claim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver is configured tocommunicate with the wireless-enabled interactive programmable devicevia a standard selected from the group consisting of infrared (IR),802.11, 3G, 4G, Edge, WiFi, ZigBee, near field communications (NFC), andBluetooth.
 5. The commercial television-interfacing dongle as recited inclaim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicatewith the wireless-enabled interactive programmable device via a shortdistance data exchange standard.
 6. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 5, wherein the shortdistance data exchange standard comprises Bluetooth.
 7. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, wherein thetransceiver comprises an antenna.
 8. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, wherein thewireless-enabled interactive programmable device comprises a deviceselected from the group consisting of personal computers, laptops,tablet computers, and smart phones.
 9. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, wherein the memoryincludes processor-executable instructions that, when executed cause theprocessor to: provide the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device shared screen instructions that place the formattedauxiliary audiovisual experience and virtual buttons on a split screen.10. The commercial television-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1,wherein the memory includes processor-executable instructions that, whenexecuted cause the processor to: receive application-based audiovisualexperience instructions from the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device and, based on the application-based audiovisualexperience instructions, provide formatted parallel application-basedaudiovisual experience instructions via the control interface.
 11. Thecommercial television-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, whereinthe program guide is stored in the storage.
 12. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, wherein the memoryincludes processor-executable instructions that, when executed cause theprocessor to: periodically receive wireless updates via the wirelesstransceiver to the program guide.
 13. The commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 1, wherein the programguide further comprises substantially continuously updated menusdisplaying broadcast programming and scheduling information for currentand upcoming programming to be received by the commercial televisionfrom an external source.
 14. The commercial television-interfacingdongle as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory includesprocessor-executable instructions that, when executed cause theprocessor to: wirelessly access an account related to a user of theproximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device; and providethe control interface account instructions that place the formattedaccount audiovisual experience instructions on the commercialtelevision.
 15. The commercial television-interfacing dongle as recitedin claim 1, wherein the memory includes processor-executableinstructions that, when executed cause the processor to: provideadvertising instructions via the control interface to the commercialtelevision to superimpose advertising content onto a portion of a screenof the commercial television.
 16. A commercial television-interfacingdongle for mechanically connecting to a commercial television, thecommercial television-interfacing dongle comprising: a housing securinga processor, memory, and storage therein; a busing architecturecommunicatively interconnecting the processor, the memory, and thestorage; a wireless transceiver associated with the housing and coupledto the busing architecture, the wireless transceiver operable tocommunicate with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmabledevice; a control interface associated with the housing and coupled tothe busing architecture, the control interface configured tomechanically couple to a commercial television control port of thecommercial television; a universal serial bus (USB) interface associatedwith the housing and coupled to the busing architecture, the USBinterface configured to mechanically couple to the commercial televisionand provide power therefrom to the commercial television-interfacingdongle; the memory accessible to the processor, the memory includingprocessor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to, upon connection of the control interface and USB interfaceto the commercial television: send formatted auxiliary audiovisualexperience instructions to the proximate wireless-enabled programmableinteractive device, wherein the formatted auxiliary audiovisualexperience instructions are operable to provide a program guide relatedto the content on the commercial television, provide instructions forvirtual buttons on a touch screen display associated with the proximatewireless-enabled interactive programmable device, the virtual buttonsbeing associated with the commercial television, receive and processvirtual remote control functionality input instructions from theproximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device, and send aremote control command to the commercial television via a commercialtelevision control protocol; and a configuration profile associated withthe memory and processor-executable instructions that enables thecommercial television-interfacing dongle to control the commercialtelevision; wherein the memory includes processor-executableinstructions that, when executed cause the processor to alternatebetween providing the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device the formatted auxiliary audiovisual experienceinstructions, and providing the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device the instructions for virtual buttons.
 17. Thecommercial television-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 16, whereinthe memory includes processor-executable instructions that, whenexecuted cause the processor to: provide advertising instructions viathe control interface to the commercial television to superimposeadvertising content onto a portion of a screen of the commercialtelevision.
 18. A commercial television-interfacing dongle formechanically connecting to a commercial television, the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle comprising: a housing securing aprocessor, memory, and storage therein; a busing architecturecommunicatively interconnecting the processor, the memory, and thestorage; a wireless transceiver associated with the housing and coupledto the busing architecture, the wireless transceiver operable tocommunicate with a proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmabledevice; a control interface associated with the housing and coupled tothe busing architecture, the control interface configured tomechanically couple to a commercial television control port of thecommercial television; a universal serial bus (USB) interface associatedwith the housing and coupled to the busing architecture, the USBinterface configured to mechanically couple to the commercial televisionto provide structural support to the commercial television-interfacingdongle and provide power therefrom to the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle; the memory accessible to the processor,the memory including processor-executable instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to, upon connection of the controlinterface and USB interface to the commercial television: specify asearch operation to identify the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device, wherein the search operation utilizes the wirelesstransceiver to wirelessly identify the proximate wireless-enabledinteractive programmable device, establish a pairing between theproximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device and thecommercial television-interfacing dongle, send formatted auxiliaryaudiovisual experience instructions to the proximate wireless-enabledprogrammable interactive device, wherein the formatted auxiliaryaudiovisual experience instructions are operable to provide a programguide related to the content on the commercial television, provideinstructions for virtual buttons on a touch screen display associatedwith the proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device, thevirtual buttons being associated with the commercial television, receiveand process virtual remote control functionality input instructions fromthe proximate wireless-enabled interactive programmable device, send aremote control command to the commercial television via a commercialtelevision control protocol, and provide advertising instructions viathe control interface to the commercial television to superimposeadvertising content onto a portion of a screen of the commercialtelevision; and a configuration profile associated with the memory andprocessor-executable instructions that enables the commercialtelevision-interfacing dongle to control the commercial television, theconfiguration profile being a non-set-top box, functionality-facingplatform, the configuration profile being associated with a room in alodging establishment wherein the commercial television-interfacingdongle is located; wherein the memory includes processor-executableinstructions that, when executed cause the processor to alternatebetween providing the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device the formatted auxiliary audiovisual experienceinstructions, and providing the proximate wireless-enabled interactiveprogrammable device the instructions for virtual buttons.
 19. Thecommercial television-interfacing dongle as recited in claim 18, whereinthe program guide further comprises substantially continuously updatedmenus displaying broadcast programming and scheduling information forcurrent and upcoming programming to be received by the commercialtelevision from an external source.